by

Mexican Currency

I am using cash exclusively in Mexico simply because the places where I shop don’t take cards. In one way, this makes it easy to budget because I see how much money I have and can divvy it up to last me as long as I intend for it to last. The downside is that most places don’t give a receipt, so it’s hard to keep track of exactly where my money is going, although, really, most if it is ultimately food

I’m learning what coins and bills are the most useful to have on hand and which are a pain.

The worst at the 500 peso bills (brown). Think of them as as $50 bill. I can’t think of any place on Isla where I would feel comfortable pulling out a 500 peso bill unless I was buying at least 400 pesos worth of something because most place just don’t have the change for them. For my situation, the 500 peso bills are so hard to break up that I feel like I might as well have no money. I do like them for paying rent, though.

Next are the 200 peso bills (green). Think of them as a $20 bill. I feel embarrassed when I have to pull one out for a purchase that is less than 100 pesos and have been frequently told by vendors that they can’t make change for them. They’re not as bad as the 500 peso bills, but I still feel hampered when that’s all I have. I was glared at yesterday when I bought my 8 peso panga ticket with a 200 peso bill.

Next are the 100 peso bills (orange). Think of them as a $10 bill. I don’t have any problem spending them, although I was embarrassed at the City Deli the other day buying 9 pesos worth of veggies with a 100 peso bill and the gal had to scramble to find me change.

Then, there are the 50 peso bills (red). Think of them as a $5 bill. These are great! I seem to make a lot of purchases that are about 50 pesos and I’ve never had trouble spending them.

The last bills are 20 pesos (blue). They are like a toonie and very useful, too, especially for tips at a restaurant or buying a beer or ice cream!

And after that, you get the 10 peso coin, which is like a loonie. This one is invaluable! So many things cost 10 pesos or so, like a panga ride, a 5-gallon bottle of water, or a bag of peanuts.

Next, you have a 5 peso coin, which is like a 50-cent piece. Very useful for buying tortillas!

Finally, there are 1 and 2 peso coins, which are like a dime and a quarter. These are best saved for tipping.

There are also smaller coins for centavos, which are a division of the peso. I’ve been given them as change, but have never been asked to provide some, with partial amounts rounded up or down to the nearest peso the way that we do in Canada now that the penny is out of circulation. I give those plus a peso or two the grocery store baggers.

I am getting more comfortable with the currency, especially when it comes to telling the coins apart. The 10 pesos have a gold border and a silver centre and are slightly larger than the 5 pesos, which have a silver border and a gold centre. So they would be easy to tell apart even if they were the same size. I’m still struggling with the 1 and 2 peso coins, which are essentially identical except for size, and more than one honest person has told me I gave 2 pesos instead of 1!

There are also 1,000 peso bills and 20 peso coins, but I’ve definitely not seen the former and fairly certain I have not seen the latter.

Except for blogging purposes, I rarely feel a need to convert pesos to CAD to decide if I want to buy something because I already have a very good idea of how far my money can go here and what’s a reasonable price or not. I am thinking of going to Walmart tomorrow to buy a proper computer chair and for that I will likely do some currency conversion, but for groceries and basic household items, I know that the price is so low I don’t have to worry about how many dollars I’m spending.

It’s really much more important to know how many pesos I’ve spent so far that month and how much month I have left to determine if I want to buy something since the currency conversion was done at the ATM and those pesos are out of my CAD budget anyway.

Spending a currency that isn’t dollars or pounds is a lot of fun, to be honest. The novelty hasn’t worn off yet! But, yes, it still feels like I’m spending ‘real’ money! 🙂

6 thoughts on “Mexican Currency”

  1. Rae, I’ve lived in Mexico for ten years and still have to take a second look to distinguish between the 1 and 2 peso coin…give it time.

    As for the lack of change, it’s a perennial problem here in Mexico. Try stopping at a bank in your wanderings and breaking several 500s at a time.

    • Good to know that a ‘long timer’ is having trouble with the 1 and 2 peso coins, too!

      Thanks for the tip about breaking the bills at the bank. I’ll try that. Right now, all I have are 500 peso bills and a 100 peso bill. I’m going out for lunch and will try to pay with a 500 bill. Worst case, I’m going to Walmart tomorrow, so I should be able to break up a few there.

  2. I found I could switch easily to the peso system without trying to convert. Norma, on the other hand never could. She always converted prices to Canadian and if I asked her how much something cost or what she paid for something, she would automatically give me the price in Canadian dollars. I would then have to convert back to pesos to decide if it was a good deal or not. Then when we left Mexico for the first few days I would convert from US dollars back to pesos before I felt comfortable paying. 😉

    I found that some merchants try to make things “easier” for you by giving you the price in US dollars. This always angered me for a couple of reasons, first because we are in Mexico. Second, it makes comparison shopping very difficult. Say you are buying something, say a leather belt, and see one for 120 pesos. The next stall has them as well and the salesman tells you, “It is only nine dollars”. Quick, which is the best deal?

    As for coins, try this trick. Put several coins of mixed value in your pocket (or in a bag). Reach in and figure out which is which by feel alone. This will help you figure out the difference between 1 and 2 peso coins without having to look at them.

    • I find that converting to CAD isn’t that helpful in the long run. I still do what Norma does sometimes just because of the sheer shock of paying so little, but my budget is in pesos, so might as well shop in pesos. I’ve had a few people give me prices in USD and I’ve refused them, saying that I want the price in pesos. The peso price is always a better deal. 🙂

      That’s a good tip about putting the coins in a bag, but I don’t have a lot of feeling in my fingers. That tip works well for CAD currency, which is really distinctive, but I find that the US and MX coins all feel about the same.

      And I think the exchange rate just went nuts because I would have thought the 120 pesos would be more than the 9USD, but today it isn’t. Yup. Holy cow. When I got here, my rent was 460CAD. I just did the conversion again and now it’s about 440CAD! I’d better do that withdrawal fast!

  3. I know you’ve been having issues with various bank ATMs so not sure if this will work for you, but I found that when using Banamex vs. Santander, Banamex would usually just dispense large bills, whereas Santander would dispense a nice variety of smaller denominations. As a bonus, the exchange rates at Santander were a bit better too.

Comments are closed.